Nearly three years have passed since I left Barranquilla, where I lived for 12 months while working as a British Council language assistant. As London’s bitter winter intensified, my thoughts wandered to the sun, salsa and downright lovely locura that is my beloved Barranquilla. It was high time I headed back.

Arriving just as carnival was about to commence, I danced, drunk and shook my stuff with the rest of the city, while also revisiting all my favourite Colombian foods.

I’ve published various Barranquilla posts while living there (fried ear and salsa dancing here, how to make your own ajiaco here – just search “Barranquilla” on the home page for more), and in fear of repetition I’ll keep this one brief. Here’s a snappy rundown of my top Barranquilla bites.

First stop was La Immaculada, one of the cities top fruteras, around since 1982. A frutera is the place to head for fresh juices and fried goodies (aptly named fritos).

Frutera Immaculada

Fruit juice and fried goods

What did I eat? A carimañola (meat filed pastry with dough made from yucca) and a dedito (cheesy finger), alongside nispero and mandarin juice, plus the obligatory ají (chilli) sauce.

Mondongo is one of my favourite typical soups and a perfect embodiment of the nose-to-tail approach within Colombian cuisine whereby no meat is left to waste. Made mainly from tripe, the slow cooking of the stomach breaks it down from chewy to smooth, with a rich meaty flavour. Accompanied by yucca, potato and plantain, the flavour is picked up by a sprinkling of coriander and a squeeze of lime.

Mmmm…Mondongo, I’ve missed you (please note my fantastic nails too)

Returning to Barranquilla I realised how things we might consider as exotic at home (huge avocados, fresh coconuts and exotic fruits) are really just everyday alimentation for the costeños. Just look at this coconut lolly I had on route back from the beach – homemade and bought from someone’s front garden, this beats a pre-packaged Twister any day.

Beach life = eating coconut lollies

Or how about this lovely lady, serving half or whole avocados to accompany people’s fish lunches by the river? The sweetness and intense flavour of this avocado has thoroughly ruined any future avo-on-toast I may be tempted to buy while out for overpriced brunches back home.

Best avocados EVER

Want to stop to quench your thirst in the mid-day sun? Why not grab an ice-cold coconut, sold on the side of the road. Sit down, sip the juice, and then ask your coconut vendor to machete open the shell for you in order to enjoy the sweet and creamy flesh.

Casual coco frio on the side of the street

Being back in Barranquilla, I slipped straight into my old routines and felt quite quickly that I’d never want to leave. But as my ten days flew by, London and it’s grey but homely skies were calling. I’ll always have a bit of my heart tied to Colombia’s coast, and now will aim to head back more often. In the meantime, I’ll be looking to recreate some Barranquillero recipes in my Brixton kitchen, so stay posted!

Turtle stew, fried lungs and malted fizzy drinks may sound like acquired tastes. But acquire them I did, during my year in Colombia. Certain food items I was less keen on, and I had particular dairy dilemmas when I realised all yogurt was either watery or contained gelatine and came in a jelly-like block. Total greek, Yeo Valley, Rachels Organic, donde estan, I would ask?

Despite my yearning for real yogurt, Colombian cooking captured my heart. Colombian food is never going to compare to classic French cuisine, but it comes from a totally different angle. The main dishes serve to feed and fill a crowd – big stews, rice and meat dishes and a lot of carbohydrates dominate.

With so many regional differences within the culture, Colombian food varies hugely: from the creamy potato and chicken soup ajiaco in cold and central Bogotá to more tropical flavours such as coconut and the fruit chontaduro on the warm yet wet pacific coast. Despite its regionally varied dishes and interesting, complex flavours, Colombian cuisine is still relatively unknown to the British palette, but I’m on a personal mission to make Colombian food more popular within the UK.

There’s a huge Latino population within London and some pockets of the city seem almost entirely Spanish speaking. I think it’s brilliant that I can buy empanada flour, the infamous bright pink fizzy drink postobon and achiote chilli powder less than half an hour away from my house and the fact the cashier will speak to me in Spanish without a second thought.

Corn flour for arepas and empanadas and guava jelly, bought at Brixton market.

With Colombian products so readily available, I decided to recreate one of my favourite Colombian cakes – a wonderfully dense and moist vanilla sponge marbled with bocadillo, a sweet paste made of guava pulp and sugar. I bought my bocadillo in Brixton market and I’m certain you can find it in either Elephant & Castle or Seven Sisters too. If you’re not London based, you can find it here, or you could also use membrillo, the Spanish quince jam available in most larger supermarkets near the cheese.

Enough waffle, time to bake cake.

Bizcocho con bocadillo (Vanilla and guava cake)

Ingredients

-200g flour

-200g butter

-160g sugar

-5 eggs

-100g warm milk

-2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

-300g bocadillo (or membrillo)

-Dash of vanilla extract (1 tsp)

-4 tbsp water

Method

Line a grease a large round cake tin – I used a 9 inch x 3 inch springform pan.

Start your sponge mix by mixing the flour, bicadrbonate of soda and sugar together. Melt the butter completely, leave to cool slightly and whisk into the sugar and flour mixture, adding one egg at a time, mixing it all together. As you whisk add in the 100 ml warm milk and the dash of vanilla extract. Your cake batter is now ready.

To make the bocadillo marble, you need to cut your bocadillo into small cubes and place it in a pan over a low heat, with 2 tbsp of water. As the bocadillo starts to melt down, stir it gently and add the rest of the water (and more if required). Take off the heat. You’re aiming for a liquid consistency you’re able to drizzle, but not something that’s overly runny.

Quickly, as you don’t want the bocadillo to re-solidify, pour half the vanilla mix into the tin and then drizzle in half of the bocadillo mixture, swirling it around to create a marble pattern. Top with the rest of the vanilla mix and then repeat the bocadillo swirls on top.

Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes, and if top is overly browning, cover with foil. Cake is done when a a knife poked in comes out clean.

Vanilla sponge marbled with bocadillo – A Colombian guava cake, brought all the way to NW London!

A very pretty cake and a bit more exciting than a Victoria Sponge. Give it a go!

“Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Prince and Dinner like a Pauper”.

We’ve all heard the phrase before and are frequently told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But why is that true?

Looking at its name, it should all become a little obvious – you are quite literally breaking the fast you undertake during your nights sleep. I don’t know about you, but I rarely go for more than 6 hours without eating. So when I wake up, I’m always pretty hungry! And to all you non-breakfast eaters out there, did you know it’s you lot who are more likely to be reaching for the high sugar and fatty snacks mid-morning? So…wake up well, and get your breakfast on!

I was lucky enough to win myself a free breakfast at La Tiendacita, a well-loved local joint here in Barranquilla which serves typical costeño food. I won through a competition on Instagram, in which I had to name three of my favorite things about my beloved Barranquilla. What did I pick? The people, La Troja (the epitome of the city and my favorite salsa club – check out my post on it here) and of course, the food!

A typical morning meal here in Colombia is not to be taken lightly – and I mean that very literally. That is to say, granola and yogurt it is not. Think meaty, cheesy things, fried pastries and what for us might seem more like lunch or dinner options: rice, meat, even stews are all fair cop for this Colombian morning munch.

La Tiendacita itself is a really cool place, with two different branches within the city. The walls are adorned with local phrases, some of which I shall share with you here:

Tronco de pajarilla – a load of bullshit

Cogela suave – take it easy (the phrase of Barranquilla)

Mi llave – my best friend

Fria – a beer

Your typical Barranquillero slang. Don’t go shouting these at your granny though, as a lot of vulgarity is involved!

Ever find yourself on the coast of Colombia, be sure to try some of these phrases out – your cara de gringo will certainly be reassessed! For breakfast, an array of typical bites were on offer. Fritos (think tasty fried pasty-style things) are particularly popular – arepas, empanadas and the delicious cheesy fingers deditos all feature as part of a Colombian breakfast.

Finger-licking fritos, next to a huge pot of chicharrón

My complimentary breakfast consisted of an enormous portion of chicharrón (fried pork rind cooked in its own fat), boiled yucca (a root vegetable), both served with some of the typical costeño condiment suero, which is a bit like sour cream. Served with some corozo juice (a small dark berry, somewhat like a cranberry), I opted for an extra cheesy dedito on the side – as if there wasn’t enough food to begin with.

This was a breakfast fit for a king. As I stared down at my plate, over-flowing with meat, carb, and its creamy dipping sauce, I started to wonder if the extra dedito hadn’t been just a bit ambitious. However, with pork as good as this, with its perfect contrast of the crispy, salty skin against the soft, flavorsome meat, it was no hard feat to finish it all. I love yucca served like this, with its slightly sweet taste somewhat similar to sweet potato. Dipped into the creamy suero, it was the perfect carby accompaniment. Even the unnecessary dedito was a treat – tangy costeño cheese wrapped in a rich, buttery pastry case.

Behold the Barranquilla breakfast – not for the faint hearted!

I enjoyed the wonderful company of the waiters as I ploughed through my breakfast and was entertained with tales of the city while learning more costeño slang. About 45 minutes later, to the sheer disbelief of the waiters, I had consumed every morsel on my plate. Yes, I was full, but actually pleasantly so. However…without over sharing, I’d say fried pork for breakfast isn’t the kindest thing on the old digestive track. But it’s sure to say I was fueled for the day ahead, and definitely didn’t need any form of elevenses.

Eating at La Tiendacita is more than just the food – it really is a cultural experience. People come here when they want their own taste of home, just like their mum and grandma used to make. However for this inglesa, whose mother and gran cooked more of your typically British roast chicken than Colombian champús (the not so tasty thick drink made from corn, pineapple and other ingredients, tried on my trip to Cali), it is a chance to further learn about some real Barranquilla’s traditions. And if their typical breakfast means it’s okay to consume crispy fried pork before 1 pm, I am all game.

Colombia is a country of contrasts. Hot Caribbean beaches, deep, dense jungles and cold, steep mountain ranges. African-influenced music such as champeta plays next to the indigenous music bambucco, with some modern day reggaeton thrown in the mix too. While these are differences to be celebrated, Colombia also possesses less desirable contrasts, such as the stark comparison between the rich and the poor.

Thankfully, there are many charities within the country working to help change the situation of millions of families who live in poverty. One such organisation is TECHO, who work to provide emergency housing for families living in sub-standard housing conditions.

I’ve already written about some of the work I have done with TECHO here, and my most recent experience was the task of feeding 80 hungry volunteers during a weekend of construction with four families in Puerto Colombia, down by the beach here in Barranquilla.

I had to provide two breakfasts and one dinner and my job involved planning the menu, managing the budget, buying the food and of course…cooking it all too! Another volunteer and I worked together to achieve this mammoth task. We came up with a menu of well-loved Colombian classics, two of which I’ll share with you all today.

The breakfast on the first day was huevos pericos served alongside bread rolls. This is a classic Colombian breakfast dish and is a quick, easy and nourishing option that is just a tad more exciting than your everyday scrambled eggs recipe.

Method1) Add in oil (and butter if using) to the pan while it heats up. Once the pan is warm, add in chopped onions and watch and stir until the start they change color.
2) Add in chopped tomatoes with a good pinch of salt. Stir around with onions for about 5 minutes, until tomatoes are looking cooked but not mushy.
3) Now crack eggs straight into the pan and mix around, and when starting to scramble turn off heat. Stir around a bit more, but don’t let them dry up – runny eggs are best!

This can be served with some chopped coriander stirred through, or sprinkled on top.

Breakfast on the second day was a very traditional dish called cayeye – boiled guineos (smaller, green plantains)mashed up with butter, salt and cheese. Added suero (a kind of sour cream) is optional, indulgent and completely recommended! Sadly, in the sheer mayhem of boiling 80 bananas and grating over 5 kilograms of cheese (all before 5:30 am this is), I forgot to take any pictures. So you’ll just have to trust me when I say this is one breakfast dish you should try!

Ingredients for Cayeye – photo credit not my own, taken from food catering company aldimark

Breakfasts done, what’s for dinner? The much-loved Colombian dish arroz con pollo (chicken and rice). Tackling such a classic dish, I did my research talking to various mums/grandmas/cleaners and cooks in order to get their top tips. Everyone has their own little tricks for making this dish, and here is a compilation of those pearls of wisdom to help you try your hand at this classic Colombian eat.

1) First cook the chicken. Place breasts in a pot with the first 3 chopped cloves of garlic, the stock cube, and cover with water until all of the chicken is submerged. Boil for about 30 minutes until the breasts are cooked through, and remove chicken to cool on a plate but reserve this chicken stock (you will use it to cook your rice).

2) Now, in the water you cooked the chicken in, you’re going to cook your rice, adding in the grated carrot for colour. Make sure there is exactly twice as much water as you have rice – if you haven’t got enough chicken-y water for your rice, add in more plain water. Likewise, if you’ve too much water, drain some out. Simple!

3) While the rice is cooking, shred your chicken breasts with two forks. Save aside, and crack on with the veg.

4) Cook onion in a separate pan until it starts to take a golden colour and then add in peppers. Add salt and spices and garlic. Cook for another 5 minutes, and then add in tomato puree. Add in shredded chicken, chopped coriander and give a good stir for about 1-2 minutes.

5) Checking your rice is nice and cooked (about 20-25 mins), it’s time to mix it all up! Add cooked chicken and veg to rice, stir it all up and taste. A bit pale looking? Try a squirt of tomato ketchup! Not feeling flavorsome enough? Add some more spices. Serve with a sprinkle of fresh coriander, and enjoy.

Arroz con pollo is a great feed-a-crowd dish, and if I managed it for 80, this recipe for four should be a breeze!

Overall, the weekend was a tough, long, but unforgettable experience. It was my third time participating in a construction with TECHO, and it never ceases to amaze me how in just two days the lives of families can be transformed so positively. So after you’ve hit the kitchen to cook up these two Colombian classics, please also take the time to read up about TECHO and the work it does across Latin America.

Until next time, where BidmeadBites takes a brief holiday away…stay tuned to find out where to!

Fruit here in Colombia is really quite something. Lulo, nispero, zapote. granadllia, uchuva…ring any bells? These are just some of the new fruits I’ve discovered during my time here. Sliced up and eaten as snacks, served as toppings for breakfast or as parts of delicious desserts, the sheer variety of fruit here means there is no excuse not to be filling up on these vitamin-rich, natural sweet treats. Or, why not drink up the wonderful array of fruits at one of the various fruteras around the city?

Fruteras here sell not only delicious juices, but also offer up those tasty and much-loved fritos. Empandas, carimañolas, deditos, arepas, patacones…essentially just an awful lot of very delicious (and very beige) food. Here is a quick rundown of some of my favourite fruteras so far.

Just check out the frito selection here at Los Compadres. No fruit or veg to be seen, but that’s where the juices come in!

Frutera Los Compadres (Calle 74 entre Carreras 46 y 47)

Condiment heaven at Los Compadres

Perhaps one of the most famous fruteras in Barranquilla, Los Compadres has a firm fan following and is visited as much by busy workers in the morning as it is by tired and tipsy party goers at night. The range of fritos is immense – I’m slowly working my way through them all. I also like that here you can buy portions of flavoured rice, which invariably come with either meat or chicken.

Frutera El Compadre (Calle 79 y Calle 76)

When my sister came to visit, I felt it only right to introduce her to the wonders of fruteras, and so together we headed to El Compadre, another famous spot in the city. I opted for some meat empanadas and she went for the classic dedito (cheese finger) and a little baked spinach pastry. We washed down our snacks with some delicious and exotic juices en leche (with milk).

The brown juice is nispero, which has a distinctly nutty flavour, and the pink juice is zapote, which I believe tastes like a mix between carrot and strawberry…but really it’s unlike anything else I’ve tried before!

Zapote juice (left), Nispero juice (right), with my sisters veggie goods on the left and my meat filled goodness on the right.

Frutera Fruticao (Calle 93 Carrera 49c)

A lot of fruteras prepare their juices in advance to have them ready for order, but at Frutticao they make them as you order, meaning you can skip the enthusiastic servings of extra sugar often added. You also have the option of different types of milk (they haven’t quite reached the soya option yet, but skimmed is on offer). Serving only a few fritos, this place is really all about the juice, and as you can see from the list below – there’s quite the selection to choose from.

Fruteras are the perfect place to stop for a quick juice and bite to eat, at all hours of the day. I continue on the quest to find the best spot in the city, although mixed opinions may have me searching a long time!

Colombian food, while delicious, could hardly be praised for its health giving properties. I love myself some deep fried fish and plantain as much as the next person, but it’s definitely not food to be eaten every day. And for those days when I’m feeling a little greener than others, Barranquilla has a surprisingly wide range of healthy-eat places to choose from.

Gokela(Calle 84 Cra 55) is a chain with restaurants in Cartagena and Bogota, and thankfully has also touched down in Barranquilla. Almost like a healthier Subway but with far more options, it offers sandwiches, wraps, salads, rice bowls (like this delicious one pictured), as well as healthy sweet treats and a great range of juices.

A delicious bali salad bowl, with cabbage, beansprouts, grated carrot and onion, shredded chicken breat, served in a burrito bowl, next to a very refreshing carrot and ginger juice.

Basil ( 51B#82-100 Palmas Mall) describes itself as a ‘gourmet healthy restaurant’ and also has its own health food store attached. Offering dishes such as ceviche, quinoa sushi and protein ‘cake’, it caters to the health-conscious Colombian while also providing interesting and flavorsome dishes. I went with a friend for breakfast and chose these cracking pancakes made with oat and coconut flour mixed with chia seeds, topped with peanut butter and strawberries. A great combo and a brilliant way to start the day.

Pancakes…but good for you. What’s not to love?

As well as an incredible array of fruit juices, in Barranquilla you can also grab some great green veggie juices, found at Freshii (Carrera 53 # 76-279). This was a ‘green energy’ juice: apple, cucumber, lime, carrot, lettuce and spinach. Refreshing, full of goodness and a nice change from the quite often overly sweet fruit juices found here. Their menu also has great vegetarian and gluten-free food, and you can get good offers on selected dishes of the day, costing under 10,000 pesos.

With all this healthy food around, Barranquilla proves itself to be the best of both worlds. A great place to enjoy typical costeño food, you can also get your veggie/health food fare whenever you want it. So have your tres leches cake and eat it, with a bit of healthy green on the side.

Guess who’s come home for Christmas? After bidding a brief farewell to my beloved Barranquilla, I touched back down in London to spend Christmas with my friends and family back here in the UK. One of the many exciting things about being back home is being close to all the little things I love – especially my collection of cookbooks!

I really do love a good cookbook

I spent an evening curled up in bed back with my old friends Nigel Slater, Nigella Lawson and Mary Berry. Having brought back various Colombian food products with me, I could just envision one of Mary Berry’s traditional English cakes with a new Colombian twist to it. And what cake is more traditional than the classic Victoria Sponge? Proving that less is often more, this simple sponge cake with just a touch of jam, cream and fresh berries is a much-loved classic and an iconic British bake. Dare I fiddle with this recipe?

Fiddle I did, and to much success! Replacing the British jam and strawberries with Colombian arequipe (dulce de leche to Argentines, caramel to you and me), a touch of coconut and a passion fruit cream, here is my twist on the traditional English sponge.

(Have you noticed anything about the measurements for this cake? Equal amounts of butter, sugar, and flour. Add in 4 eggs and 2 tsp of baking powder and you have the backbone of about 100 delicious sponge-cake recipes. Learn these ingredients, practice this cake, and you have mastered a classic. How easy is that?!).

Method

Line cake tins with cake tin liners or grease with some butter. Preheat oven to gas mark 4/180 degrees/350 Fahrenheit.

1) Cube butter and place in a large bowl. Add in the caster sugar, flour, baking powder and eggs (crack in one at a time).2) Here you can use a hand or electric whisk to combine ingredients. You want to do this at a slow speed to gain a nice soft mixture which should drop off your whisk when lifted up.3) Spread cake mix evenly between two tins and pop in your preheated oven for between 20-30 minutes, until cakes are starting to shrink away at the sides and are springy when pressed. Take out and leave to cool. When cooled, the cakes can be removed from tins.4) Now time for our filling! First get your passionfruit pulp by putting the passion fruit seeds in a small tea colander and press with the back of a spoon to separate the flesh from the seeds. Reserve pulp for later.5) Get out your arequipe (or caramel – carnation sell a good ready made one), and spread with a smile on top of the base layer of the sponge. If it’s a little tough, a quick blast in the microwave helps its spreadability.5) To make the icing, whip your double cream until it is thick and spreadable. Then add in cream cheese, your desiccated coconut, icing sugar and passionfruit pulp and mix again to combine.6) Sandwich the second sponge cake on top, and smooth over a bit more cream. Here your artistic license is at play – warm up and drizzle over some more caramel, dot on a few passion fruit seeds – whatever your heart desires!

A simple sponge cake tropically transformed into a coconut, caramel and passion fruit delight. Serve with a nice cup of English tea, or a shot of aguardiente (a Colombian alcoholic spirit) – that choice I will leave up to you!

Read any guide book that refers to Barranquilla and you probably won’t be stopping by. Often referred to as ‘just a stop on the way to the far more agreeable Cartagena or Santa Marta’ (Lonely Planet direct quote), Barranquilla is not one of the coast’s touristic hot spots.

Oh so many beautiful. . .apartment blocks?

But for that, I love it. Barranquilla is a real coastal Colombian town, where the local phrase is ‘cogerla suave‘, meaning ‘take it easy’ (unless you’re from a Spanish-speaking country where coger has quite a different, naughtier meaning, but we’ll ignore that for now). Life is relaxed and people like to dance, spend time with friends and generally enjoy themselves. What better way to enjoy yourself than a night out on the town, dancing away to the sound of salsa?

La Troja

La Troja is a Barranquilla institution, and was described perfectly by a friend here as ‘an attack on the senses’. It’s loud, bright and crowded – and an incredible amount of fun. Playing purely salsa, if you’re looking for an authentic barranquillero night out, this is the place to come. The crowd is mixed, meaning you’re just as likely to find a group of young ex-pats here as you are a solitary salsa-dancing senior. It’s the kind of ‘anything goes’ type of place which makes me love where I live.

In my element

Perhaps another one of my main draws to La Troja is the atmosphere around it. If you can’t grab a table inside, head out to the off-licence in front, where there is always a massive crowd chatting, dancing and soaking up the salsa. Also surrounding it are an array of street food stands. While the majority of people might head for a simple chuzo en palo (meat skewer with potato), the more adventurous of us head elsewhere.

You’ll find me at El Piqueteadero, where my love of all things meaty has found its match. Forget your typical Friday night drunken kebab, because here the party-goers late night food of choice comes in the form of pigs ear, lung, intestine and tongue to name but a few consumable animal parts. If it’s a piece of meat you’d never consider eating, you’re likely to find it here, deep fried and served alongside tiny boiled potatoes.

These often neglected parts of meat are known as offal (or ‘variety meats’) in English and visceras in Spanish. The term offal refers to just organ meats, but can also be used to describe cuts such as ear and tongue. There are two different types of offal, labelled either ‘red’ or ‘white’. Offal such as liver, heart, tongue, lungs, kidney and spleen are labelled as red, due to the fact these parts are more ‘meat’ like. Cuts such as intestines, stomach, brains, and sweetbreads come under the white category, due to their appearance and slightly more foreign taste and texture.

No donner kebab here I’m afraid

However, be it red or white, the idea of eating an animal’s insides seems to creep a few people out. But listen up meat eaters. If you’re perfectly happy to buy a pre-packaged, pumped up chicken breast in the supermarket yet squirm at the idea of getting down to the butchers and buying some blood sausage, I’d have a second think. In this day and age we don’t need to eat meat. We can find all the necessary protein and vitamins we need through other sources, and the process of feeding animals reared for meat creates an enormous amount of pollution. There’s also of course the ethics actually eating meat, but I don’t feel this post quite warrants discussion on that. If we choose to continually kill animals for food, I think it is important to make full use of the meat available. A great documentary on the meat industry isGet Vegucated, and if you want to know more on the topic I really recommend it.

My bowl at El Picadero

If you’d eat a sirloin or rump steak, you’re eating a cow’s arse. I ask…how far is that from eating its kidney or liver? Or, if your like me and want to try it all, opt for some black pudding (morcilla), pig ear, sheep lung (bofe), cow tongue, a sausage called longaniza and intenstine. Well…at least that´s what my bowl fromEl Piqueteadero consisted of.

While it was good to try it all, I established a few things. This was not the finest black pudding I had eaten, pig’s ear is surprisingly delicious, lung isn’t my favourite, and tongue is almost too much like a normal cut of meat to even earn its offal status. I’ve now visited La Troja on numerous occasions, and even if not to eat there I will always pass by and have a chat at El Piqueteadero. Perhaps it’s odd that I’m now a recognised face at the fried offal stand, but otherwise how would I check out the variety of odd things on offer, and know what is still left to try? As it stands, testicles and cow udder is my next nibble of choice. Stay tuned for that!

‘Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper’…

Or, if in Colombia -just eat lunch. Because here lunch is not to be taken lightly, both in the figurative and literal sense. The typical almuerzo corriente (‘fast lunch’) consists of a soup for starters, rice, either beans or lentils, possibly plantain or yucca, a salad and a piece of meat or fish. The price will range from COP 5,000-10,000 (£1.50-£3.00). This makes this midday meala great way to sample the local cuisine without breaking the bank. Here’s a look at some of my recent lunchtime eats here in Barranquilla.

Kitchen in the street at Totumazo

I’ve found myself in a few comedores (cheap eat places) where a health and safety officer might have a heart attack, but as I’m still standing to tell the tale and continuing to seek out these places, I’d say the dubious state of hygiene only adds to their rustic charm.

Totuzmo is probably ‘rustic charm’ personified. This cornerside comedor, with it’s thatched roof and outdoor kitchen, is about as low-frills are you can get. The specialty here is soups, which all come accompanied with rice and agua panela (sugar cane water).Each soup comes served in a bowl of totuma – the dried and hollowed out shell of the fruit from the totuma tree. The photo below is an enormous bowl of mondongo – tripe soup. Now this may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I absolutely adore this dish and given that it’s a delicacy here I’d say that’s not just my weird offal-loving self speaking either.

This whole meal cost COP 6,000 – that’s £1.25! To anyone over here in Barranquilla, this place is a must visit. Find it at Carrera 56 # 49.

‘The city centre….is inhabited by wild street commerce – it’s actually one market stretching to the river like a flattened shanty town‘.

Welcome to my city! This extract comes from a Lonely Planet guide to Colombia and it is indeed true – the city centre of Barranquilla is a lot like mayhem. But those people who endure its chaotic streets, merciless bus drivers and general disorder will be rewarded with some absolute bargains and excellent local food too.

Food in the centre has character and personality, something I’ll choose over sterile, soulless chains serving me my food in air-conditioned shopping centres any day. From every fresh fruit under the sun to fried pig ears (really), if you’re looking for a bit of excitement this is the place to come. On my most recent trip into town, I was on a mission to find the best almuerzo around. Upon recommendation, I headed to Osteria Yeimar for a corrientazo.

Osteria translates as oyster bar, but given that this is downtown Barranquilla, it was less oyster bar and more fisherman’s shack. Yeimar had everything from cocteles de camaron (special seafood cups, not alcoholic cocktails) to cazuelas de mariscos, gorgeous seafood stews. I opted for the set lunch, but when choosing my fish, my Spanish failed me – I was left clueless as to what anything on offer actually was. Not to worry, as the owner simply took me to the kitchen to select whatever fish I fancied.

I went for the mojarra, and while I’m still unsure of an English translation, all I can say is it was a good choice. A meaty fish with not too many bones, it came whole and deep fried, accompanied by coconut rice, patacones and salad. When having to choose between a typical costeño lunch in the heart of the ‘wild street commerce’ and a Subway sandwich in a shopping centre? You know where to find me.

Osteria Yeimar, Cra 43 Calle 34, centro

Ede works in our school, and her general job is to keep everything clean, everyone happy and as a side task – well fed too. With Ede you can order your own almuerzo corrientazo straight to the staff room for the wonderful price of COP 5,000. Below is pollo guisado (chicken in a tomato based sauce), coconut rice, boiled yucca and avocado salad. The soup on the side is mote de queso – a typically costeño cheese and yam-based soup.

As well as teaching at my school, I’ve also spent a fair bit of time at our nearby university taking dance classes. It’s a huge university which offers up a wide array of places for students and staff to grab a bite to eat. You can dine at one of the fancier restaurants on campus, or, of course, grab a corrientazo. One particularly good place is called Rancho Norte, just outside the uni.

This was carne gusiada (beef in a tomato sauce) with white rice, black-eyed beans, salad and plantain, Oh, and should be leaving hungry, there’re chips too. The soup is actually sopa de hueso, which is bone soup. If you think of it as just a tasty meat stock (which it is), the weird sounding name shouldn’t phase you. That enormous jug of drink is all for me – iced tea, which is very popular here. A sad moment when I was first offered ‘tea’ and thought I had landed in a country that drunk tea like the brits. Perhaps, but theirs is ice cold with tons of sugar. PG tips: I miss you.

Here in Colombia I’ve been working with a charity called Techo, which means roof in English. Techo is an organisation which helps build emergency housing for people living in substandard housing throughout Latin America. I work in the area of detection, and each Sunday we visit certain neighbourhoods to carry out interviews with families.Through these interviews, we then carry out a needs assessment and from that information assign housing. It’s an incredible charity, and if you want to find out more click you can by clicking here.

The families who receive emergency housing are obliged to provide a percentage of the cost for the housing. As a means of raising this money, after one of our visits to a neighbourhood in nearby Galapa, we were all invited by a family to a delicious almuerzo.This lunch consisted of a lentil, plantain, yucca and beef soup, which came alongside pollo guisado, rice and salad. It was a really tasty meal and just what we wanted after a tiring yet rewarding mornings work. The price we paid for the lunch all went as a contribution to the families portion of the cost for their new housing.As well as leaving satisfied and well-fed, it was great to know we were also able to be a part of the families fund-raising efforts for their new home.

From stomach soup to the wild city centre and it’s fried pig ears (but far more enticing fried fish), to cheese soup and being part of a families fundraising efforts, you’ve caught a glimpse into lunch in Colombia. It is a time to take a break from the day, sit back and enjoy a proper meal. And I like this way of living a lot. How many people eat lunch at their desk? How many people have skipped lunch due to a lack of time? Take a note out of Colombia’s book, and give yourself a good mid-day meal. And plenty of it too!

I write this post to you from Barranquilla, Colombia, otherwise know as my new home while I work over here as an English language teacher. Situated on the Caribbean coast, Barranquilla is known for its roaring carnival in February, which is Latin America’s second largest after Rio. Other than that, despite it being Colombia’s fourth busiest city, Barranquilla isn’t that highly rated as a must-see attraction in the country as a whole. While it might lack the metropolitan vibe that Medellín has become renowned for, or the sheer size of Bogotá, its kinda got its own thing going on. People from the coast, aptly named costeños, are happy, smiley, friendly people, and since I arrived just over three weeks ago I’ve received nothing but kindness from these great Barranquilleros. And it’s not just kindness I’ve received, because oh boy…do these people know how to eat!

Flag of Barranquilla

Before coming to Colombia, I’d heard mixed reviews in regards to the cuisine. While some people told me it was wonderful, I’d also received a fair few lukewarm to negative opinions of the food. What could I expect? As someone who wholeheartedly embraces all new cuisines, intestines and all (quite literally), I felt ready to sample the comida of Colombia!

Colombia is particularly interesting in its cuisine, as what is available depends so much on the region you find yourself in. Caught up in Columbia’s chilly capital Bogotá, you’re likely to find many places selling ajiaco, a warming chicken soup with no less than 3 types of potato, capers and cream. Land into Medellín, located in the Antioquia region, and you’ll find bandeja pisa on the menu. Not a dish to be taken lightly, it consists of (prepare yourself) – beans, rice, shredded beef, pork belly, chorizo, fried egg, plantain, avocado…not something to be approached with anything less than a roaring hambre.

But what’s everyone comiendo aqui en la costa? An obvious start is fish. Fresh and plentiful here by the sea, it is served fried, accompanied with arroz de coco (coconut rice) and patacones, which are fried plantain rounds. The saltiness of the fish, accompanied by the sweetness of the rice and plantain is an absolute delight – a must-try dish for anyone around this part of the country. I was lucky enough to experience it home-cooked by a woman living in Puerto Colombia, a port town just north of Barranquilla, and it is something I will be having again very soon!

Traditional fired fish, plantain and coconut rice

Breakfast here in Colombia is fairly different to in the UK. Again it depends massively on whereabouts in the country you are, but so far fried chicken, pork belly, rice, plantain and soup (to name just a few things) have all managed to make their way onto my breakfast plate. I was lucky enough to have been provided with buffet breakfasts during work training in Bogotá and Barranquilla when I first arrived, which gave me a great chance to sample many of Colombia’s desayuno delights.

From the top clockwise: fajita, arepa con huevo, bollo, empanada and hallaca

This plate above contains some very typical breakfast items. Wrapped in a banana leaf, a hallaca is a yucca based dough mixed chicken or pork, onions and raisins. The big round crispy item is an arepa con huevo – a cornmeal based patty, filled with an egg inside. Below the arepa is the half moon shaped empanada, a snack found across South America. Think of a pasty, Latin American style. The circular thing to the right of that is bollo, which can be made from yucca, cornmeal or fresh corn (mazorca).

While this second plate above might look like a filling lunch or dinner to most readers, I’ll let you know this was a yet another breakfast, with the classic caldito (soup) on the side – apparently it helps a hangover better than any painkiller! Again we have empanadas and bollo, a skewer of chorizo, some ham, pan de bono (cheese rolls), and calentado, which is a fantastic mixture of rice, beans, shredded meat and plantain. All accompanied by fresh watermelon juice and cafe con leche. If you thought a full English breakfast was good, think again, because the Colombians here seem to have done one better!

Moving onto dinner, there are some great restaurants here in Barranquilla. Given that it is a port town, Barranquilla has received a wide array of immigrants into the city over the past 200 years, which has resulted in many foreign foods merging with the traditional Colombian fare. A particularly middle-eastern influx into the city can be noted in the large amount of Arabic parillas (grills). For a girl who lived in the bountiful land of beef that is Argentina, this is obviously music to my ears.

Mixed meat grill and a mixed mezze at Zahle

Eating at Zahle, a highly recommended and great-value middle-eastern restaurant in the north of the city, I shared a parrillada completa. It came with various cuts of beef, chicken and chorizo, accompanied by yucca fries, a baked potato and suero (sour cream). Behind it is a mixed mezze, with stuffed aubergines and cabbage leaves, chicken rice and a tabbouleh salad.

This is but a mere peek into my first tastes of Colombian food, and every day I am trying new things, asking almost everyone I encounter what there is still to try, what they recommend, and if I can come and cook with their grandmas (really. I’ve had two invites so far!). So please stay tuned, and join me as I journey around this beautiful country, filled with wonderful people and absolutely delicious food.